WEBVTT
TO REPLACE.
>> IT WAS SCARY, VERY SCARY.
NATALIE: LESLIE DUHANEY FROM HER
SLEEP EARLY THIS MORNING STIRS
EMOTIONS
>> THIS BUILDING'S DONE.
DONE.
NO ONE CAN LIVE IN IT, IT HAS TO
BE ALL REBUILT.
NATALIE DUHANEY SAYS SHE WAS THE
: LUCKY ONE.
HER APARTMENT ONLY SUFFERING
SMOKE DAMAGE, BUT HER CLOSE
FRIENDS THE MARTINS WEREN'T SO
LUCKY.
>> I'M IN SHOCK, WE LOST
EVERYTHING.
>> ONLY THING I HAVE IS THE
CLOTHES I HAVE ON.
NATALIE: VANESSA MARTIN, HER
HUSBAND AND 3 KIDS WEREN'T HOME
WHEN THE FIRE FLARED UP IN ONE
OF THEIR BEDROOMS.
>> WE COULD HAVE BEEN IN THERE
WE COULD HAVE BEEN SLEEPING.
NATALIE: BUT THEY WERE VERY
CLOSE TO LOSING 2 THINGS NEAR
AND DEAR TO THEM.
ONE WAS THIS URN, CARRYING THE
REMAINS OF VANESSA'S 6 MONTH OLD
BABY BROTHER, WHO PASSED AWAY
FROM SUDDEN INFANT DEATH
SYNDROME ON 9-11.
-- ON 9/11.
>> MOM ALWAYS SAID IF THERE'S A
FIRE MAKE SURE YOU GET HIM OUT.
AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT
SACRAMENTO METRO FIREFIGHTERS
DID RUSHING INTO THE SMOKE TO
RECOVER THE URN.
NATALIE FIREFIGHTERS WERE ALSO
: ABLE TO FIND AND REMOVE KILO
THEIR 8-WEEK OLD KITTEN FROM THE
HOME.
>> HE WAS HIDING UNDERNEATH MY
COUCH.
I'M VERY GRATEFUL.
NATALIE: BUT NOW, THE PROCESS OF
REBUILDING STARTS FAMILY AND
FRIENDS ALREADY COLLECTING
DONATIONS FOR THE MARTINS
>> THEY'VE GOT NOTHING AND IT'S
RIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS.
>> WE'RE NOT SURE WHAT WE'RE
GOING TO DO YET.
WE'LL TAKE IT DAY BY DAY.
NATALIE: AND ALTHOUGH THEIR HOME
IS GONE, THE THINGS THEY CAN'T
REPLACE ARE SAFE AND SOUND
TONIGHT.

Fortunately Martin, her husband and three kids weren’t home when the fire started.

"We could have been in there (and) we could have been sleeping,” Martin said.

But, they were very close to losing two things near and dear to them: An urn carrying the remains of Martin’s 6-month-old baby brother, who died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome on Sept. 11, 2001, and Kilo, their 8-week-old kitten.

"Mom always said (that) if there’s a fire, make sure you get him out,” Martin said in tears while talking about her brother’s remains.

And that’s exactly what Sacramento Metro Fire firefighters did as they rushed into the smoke to recover the urn.

"It means the world. I don’t know what I would do if I would have lost his urn,” Martin said.